Textile machines

ABSTRACT

APPARATUS FOR SERVING A LENGTH OF SILVER EXTENDING BETWEEN A FULL CAN WHICH HAS JUST BEEN DOFFED AND AN EMPTY CAN RECEIVING SILVER FROM THE OUTPUT OF A SILVER PREPARING MACHINE INCLUDES MEANS FOR CLAMPING THE SILVER AT TWO SPACED POINTS AND A SEVERING BLADE FOR SEVERING THE SILVER HELD BETWEEN THESE TWO POINTS. THE CLAMPING MEANS COMPRISES COOPERATING MEMBERS ONE OF WHICH IS CONSTITUTED BY A HORIZONTAL PLATE FORMED WITH A PAIR OF ELONGATED SLOTS AND THE OTHER OF WHICH COMPRISES A PAIR OF PIVOTED ARMS MOVABLE UPWARDLY INTO THE RESPECTIVE SLOTS SO AS TO CLAMP THE SILVER. THE SEVERING BLADE OPERATES THROUGH A THIRD SLOT IN THE PLATE SO AS TO MOVE DOWNWARDLY TO SEVER THE SILVER.

Sept. 20, 1971 J. K. P. MACKIE TEXTILE MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch 20, 1969 p 20, 1971 J. K. P, MACKIE 3,605,198

TEXTILE MACHINES Filed March 20, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 28 2.9 24 36auazsauzy ua 3'9 Sept. 20, 1971 J, KQP r 3,605,198

' TEXTILE uacnmns Filed March 20, 1969 Y :s Sheets-Sheet 3,605,198TEXTILE MACHINES John K. P. Mackie, Belfast, Northern Ireland, assignorto James Mackie & Sons Limited, Belfast, Northern Ireland Filed Mar. 20,1969, Ser. No. 808,793 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar.27, 1968, 14,7 96/ 68 Int. Cl. B65h 54/76 U.S. Cl. 19159 7 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for serving a length of sliverextending between a full can which has just been doffed and an empty canreceiving sliver from the output of a sliver preparing machine includesmeans for clamping the sliver at two spaced points and a severing bladefor severing the sliver held between these two points. The clampingmeans comprises cooperating members one of which is constituted by ahorizontal plate formed with a pair of elongated slots and the other ofwhich comprises a pair of pivoted arms movable upwardly into therespective slots so as to clamp the sliver. The severing blade operatesthrough a third slot in the plate so as to move downwardly to sever thesliver.

This invention relates to the filling of cans with textile sliver at theoutput of a preparing machine. In order to lay the sliver in coils inthe can it is a common arrangement for the cans to be mounted on arotary turntable so that the can itself turns slowly as the sliver isfed to it. When the can is full of sliver it is necessary for it to bedotted and replaced by an empty can and various forms of mechanism forthis purpose have been proposed. When a full can has been dotted thesliver will extend back from it to the output of the machine from whenceit will be delivered into the empty can which has been moved intoposition. It is necessary that this connecting sliver should be brokenbefore the full can is removed from the machine.

Various arrangements have been proposed for this purpose, all of whichhave suffered from one or more disadvantages. Some of these arrangementsinclude a member for severing the sliver and the commonest disadvantageis that the action of such severing members on the connecting slivertends to pull the top coil of sliver from the full can. As a result along end of sliver has been left trailing from the full can which pullsout more from the can during transit and is eventually either broken offor is so severely damaged or soiled as to make it unuseable.

In an attempt to leave only a short end some previous forms of mechanismhave removed part of the length of sliver extending between the two cansand this in its turn has led to further disadvantages.

In particular the residual length of sliver may either tend to clog thesevering mechanism or may gradually accumulate until the eflficientoperation of the machine as a whole is impaired.

According to the present invention apparatus for severing a length ofsliver extending between a full can which has just been dotted and anempty can receiving sliver from the output of a sliver preparing machineincludes mechanism for clamping the length of sliver at two spacedpoints by means of cooperating members capable of relative movementtowards one another across the path of the sliver to a position inwhich, at each clamping point, part of one member enters a gap betweenparts of the cooperating member and thus wedges and traps the sliver andsevering blade means mounted so as to United States Patent ce 3,605,198Patented Sept. 20, 1971 move across and sever the sliver held betweenthe two clamping points.

Such an arrangement very largely overcomes the disadvantages previouslydiscussed, and this is primarily due to the efficient clamping of thesliver at the two places in the manner just described. Unless the sliveris firmly clamped any attempt to sever it pulls out further lengths ofsliver from either or both of the two cans in the manner alreadydescribed. The wedging action between the two cooperating membersprevents this happening and enables a firm grip to be obtained on thesliver without the need for pinning of the cooperating members which hassometimes been used in the past and which apart from its inefiiciencyhas provided a considerable hazard to the operator.

With the sliver firmly gripped the action of the severing blade is topart the sliver between the two clamping points and since it is notdesirable to have to cut through the individual fibres constituting thesliver the clamping points should be spaced apart by a distance greaterthan the maximus fibre length which is likely to be encountered. Theaction of the severing blade is then mainly to tear the sliver apartrather than to cut the individual fibres. Under these conditions thesevering blade is preferably arranged so as to be closer to one clampingpoint than the other. In this way it is possible to avoid the risk ofcompletely removing a short length of sliver with the disadvantagespreviously discussed. When the clamping points are spaced apart by adistance greater than the maximum fibre length there will always be aproportion of the shorter fibres between the two clamping points whichare not held at either of these two points. Accordingly if the severingblade were to be arranged mid-way between the two points there would bea risk that these shorter fibres would be removed completely. Bymounting the blade comparatively close to one of the clamping pointsthis danger is avoided since all the fibres acted on will either be heldat the adjacent clamping point or will be retained by the body of sliverextending from the further clamping point.

In a particular example the maximum fibre length may be 4" and the twoclamping points may be 9" apart. If the severing blade were to bemounted mid-way between the two there would be a danger that a 4" lengthof sliver would be completely removed. By mounting the blade, forexample, 3" from one clamping point and 6" from another this danger isavoided.

Preferably the cooperating members are elongated in a directiontransverse to the length of the path of the sliver so that the slivermay be gripped at any point along the length of the members and there isno need to guide the sliver along a pre-determined path to ensure thegripping action. On the other hand the fact that the sliver may begripped over a range of lateral positions somewhat complicates thesevering operation and to overcome this difficulty the severing blade isthen duplicated by the provision of two blades pivoted on opposite sidesso as to extend towards one another.

To provide the necessary relative movement between the cooperatingclamping members one of these is conveniently stationary and the otheris mounted to move upwardly towards it across the path of the sliver.The stationary member may be constituted by a horizontal plate fonmedwith a pair of elongated slots, the other member comprising a pair ofpivoted arms capable of moving upwardly into the respective slots so asto clamp the sliver. As these arms move upwardly they carry the sliverwith them into the slots and by ensuring that the arms are a fairlyclose fit within their slots the sliver may be very firmly gripped toensure an efficient severing action.

A construction in accordance with the invention will now be described byway of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of the apparatus mounted adjacentthe output of a silver preparing machine across a path of sliverextending between a full can which has just been doifed and an empty canwhich has replaced it at the output.

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus, and,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view to an enlarged scale of the apparatus asseen from above with part of a breast plate broken away for purposes ofillustration.

Turning first to FIGI 1 the sliver preparing machine itself is not shownbut its output is illustrated as comprising a spout 1 from which sliver2 is delivered to a rotary coiler head 3. The sliver is coiled insuccessive cans 4, the stage of operation illustrated being that atwhich a full can 4A shown in dotted lines has just been doffed and anempty can 4B has taken its place beneath the coiler head 3. The can 4Bis supported on a rotary projecting through slots for separating thefull and empty cans to a position as shown in FIG. 1. Immediately aftera full can has been doffed and an empty can has taken its place a lengthof sliver extends between the tops of the two cans as previouslydescribed and the apparatus forming the subject matter of the presentinvention is provided for the purpose of severing this length of sliver.

The apparatus is indicated generally as 12 in FIG. 1 and will now bedescribed in more detail. Basically it comprises a horizontalbreastplate 15 supported by a pair of uprights 16 so as to fit closelyover the coils of sliver in a full can which are indicated at 17. Theplate 15 is formed with thtree transverse slots as best seen in FIG. 3.These comprise two outer slots 20 and an inner slot 21. The two outerslots 20 cooperate with a pair of clamping arms 22 forming part of arectangular framework having a cross-member 23 and pivoted to theuprights 16 at pivot points 24 seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

In the position shown in FIG. 3 the arms 22 are in their operatedposition in which they project upwardly through the respective slots 20thus wedging the length of sliver shown as 25 which extends between thecans 4A and 4B. This wedging action clamps the sliver 25 very securelyso that the portion of the sliver extending between the two arms 22 isheld in an ideal condition for severing. Since the can 4B is rotatingand since the length of sliver 25 may extend at any point from the can4A its lateral position is indeterminate. Owing to the length of theslots 20 and arms 22 the sliver will be clamped equally firmly whateverits lateral position. In their inoperative position the arms 22 hangdownwardly from their pivots 24 as shown in FIG. 2 and are movedupwardly into the position of FIG. 3 immediately after the can 4A hasbeen dolfed. This action is controlled by a pneumatic cylinder 27mounted on one of the uprights 16 and having a connecting rod 28 linkedto an arm 29 extending rearwardly from the framework including the arms22. The connections to the cylinder 27 are shown as 30 and 31 and whenair is supplied to the top of the cylinder the arms 22 are swungupwardly, passing through an intermediate position shown in dotted lines22 in FIG. 2. During this action the cylinder 27 swings outwardly to theposition shown in dotted lines as 27' and the raising of the arms 22clamps the sliver as previously described which is then ready forsevering.

As already described the sliver 25 may lie in a range of positions alongthe length of the arms 25 and to ensure an effective severing action twoblades 35 are provided which are pivoted on opposite sides of the pathof the sliver at points 36. In their inoperative positions these arms 35extend horizontally above the path of the sliver 25 where they are heldby pneumatic cylinders 37 mounted horizontally on top of the plate 15.These have connecting rods 38 pivoted at 39 to cranked end portions onthe blades 35. The air connections to the cylinders 37 are shown as 42and 43 and when air pressure is supplied to the outer end of eachcylinder through the connection 43 the pivots 39 are drawn inwardly thusswinging the two blades downwardly into the position shown in FIG. 1. Ifthe sliver 25 is situated close to the middle of the slots 20 it will beacted on equally by the two blades whereas if it is towards one end orthe other of the slots one blade will strike it with considerably moreforce than the other. In other words the severing action will be equallyeffective whatever the position of the sliver.

The blades 35 swing downwardly through the inner slot 21 and as can beseen from FIG. 3 this slot is situated somewhat closerd to the left-handslot 20 than the right-hand slot for the reasons already described indetail, namely, to avoid the risk of complete removal of any shorterfibres in the sliver 25.

The cycle of operation is controlled by a yardage counter which measuresthe yardage of sliver fed to a can 48 and when the required amount ofsliver has been fed a signal is transmitted to a solenoid valve so as toinitiate the dolfing sequence. The pawl 6 then moves an empty can ontothe turntable thus pushing off the full can 4A which is then controlledby the pawls 9 and separated from the empty can. At this stage thelength of sliver 25 extends between the tops of the two cans as alreadydescribed. The breastplate 15 compresses the sliver in the can 4A andprevents an unnecessarily long length of sliver being drawn out. Thenext step in the sequence is for air to be supplied to the cylinder 27so that the arms 22 are swung upwardly to clamp the sliver. Immediatelythereafter air is supplied to the two cylinders 37 to cause the blades35 to swing downwardly to part the sliver as already described. Theclamping arms 22 and severing blades 35 then return to their inoperativeposition and release the parted sliver, after which the full can 4A canbe moved away as requiried with only a very short projecting end ofsliver.

If the mechanism is operated immediately after the can has been dofied,the end of sliver next to the new can is pulled by its own weight to thebottom of the can. If there is a delay before the mechanism is operated,a short end will be left projecting from the can, which is sometimesrequired for tag-ending. In either case, the operation of the severingmechanism is quite independent of the preparing machine, so that theoperation of the latter can continue without interruption as willgenerally be required, or alternatively can stop momentarily ifrequired.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for severing a length of sliver extending between a fullcan which has just been doffed and an empty can receiving sliver fromthe output of a sliver preparing machine, said apparatus including meansfor clamping said length of sliver at two spaced clamping points, saidmeans comprising cooperating members, mounting means for mounting saidmembers for relative movement towards one another across the path ofsaid sliver to a clamping position, one of said members being formedwith gaps and the other member having cooperating parts which enter saidgaps in said clamping position to wedge and trap said sliver at saidclamping points, severing blade means, and means for moving saidsevering blade means across said sliver between said clamping points soas to sever said sliver, said mounting means being operable to move saidmembers to the said clamping position to wedge and trap said sliverindependently of movement of the severing blade means.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said severing blade means iscloser to one of said clamping points than to said other clamping point.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which said cooperating members areelongated in a direction transverse to the length of the path of saidsliver and the severing blade means comprising two severing bladeshaving spaced pivots from which said blades extend towards one another.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which one of said cooperatingmembers is stationary and the other of said cooperating members ismounted to move upwardly towards said stationary member.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which said stationary member isconstituted by a horizontal plate and said gaps comprise a pair ofelongated slots and the cooperating parts of said other member comprisea pair of pivoted arms and means for moving said arms upwardly intorespective said slots so as to clamp said sliver.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said severing blade meanscomprise two severing blades having spaced pivots located above saidplate and wherein the said means for moving said severing blade meanscomprises means for moving the two severing blades from a horizontalposition extending toward one another above said plate, in a downwarddirection through a third slot in said plate, whereby to sever. saidsliver.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which said means for moving saidclamping arms and said severing blades comprise fluid operatedcylinders.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,084,399 4/1963 Juillard 191573,354,513 11/1967 Fornes 19-159 3,381,342 5/1968 Selby et al. 19159FOREIGN PATENTS 1,015,2 0 12/1965 Great Britain 19-159 DORSEY NEWTON,Primary Examiner

